The question "what is Germany" have different answers depending on which time
period you are referring to. No German state existed at the time of the birth of
Christ but the area populated by Germans had probably a population of four
millions. The predecessor of the modern German federation was the Holy Roman
Empire of German Nation, which also included several other modern states like
Austria, Belgium and the Czech republic. The Empire was dissolved 1806 and the
German Confederation was created in its place 1815. It was this Confederation
that was regarded as Germany during most of the 19th century but the statistics
below from that century refer only to the area that became the unified Germany
1871.

Germany(within historical borders)

Germany (within the borders of 1871)

0
1200
1350
1500
1600
1650
1700
1750
1800

(4,0)
8,0
12,0
12,0
15,0
10,0
15,0
17,0
25,0

1816
1820
1830
1840
1850
1860
1870

22,4
26.1
29.4
32.6
35.3
37.6
40.8

German "Reich" (including Saarland
1919-1935)

1871
1880
1890
1900
1910
1913
1922
1930
1933
1939
1939

41.1
45.2
49.4
56.4
64.9
67.0
61.9
65.1
66.0
79.8
87.1

(58.5 within the borders of 1919)

(65.2 without Saarland)
(69.5 within the borders of 1937)
(including Bohemia-Moravia)

West Germany

East Germany

1939
1946
1950
1960
1970
1980
1988

43.0
46.6
50.8
55.4
60.7
61.6
61.4

1939
1946
1950
1960
1970
1980
1988

16,7
18.5
18.4
17.2
17.1
16.7
16.7

Federal Republic of Germany

1990
2000
2010

79.4
82.8
81.8

The population statistics below cover various historical states
and modern part states that have existed in Germany. During the Thirty
Years War was Württemberg's population reduced from 450 000 in 1620 to just 100
000 in 1639. Hanover had a population of 200 000 in 1689. Brandenburg-Prussia
had a population of 0.6 million in 1648 and it reached 1,5 million in 1700.
Prussia expanded its territory greatly during the eighteenth century and had a
population of 9,7 millions in 1806. But that year ended in disaster when
Prussia was defeated by Napoleon. In the peace of 1807 was Prussia reduced to a
territory that had only 4,9 million inhabitants. Prussia's status as a great
power was however restored at the Congress in Vienna 1815.

Member States of the German Confederation(population in thousands)

1816

1828

1834

1840

1852

1861

1864

Prussia
Bavaria
Saxony
Württemberg
Baden
Hessen-Darmstadt
Thuringian States
Schleswig-Holstein
Other States A
Other States B

10 349
3 655
1 190
1 411
1 006
607
709

2 154
1 491

12 726
4 088
1 373
1 549
1 176
718
802

2 617
1 596

13 510
4 247
1 596
1 570
1 231
761
855

2 793
1 676

14 929
4 371
1 706
1 646
1 296
812
896
849
2 960
1 766

16 935
4 559
1 988
1 733
1 362
854
960
969
3 104
1 918

18 491
4 690
2 225
1 721
1 373
0 857
1 004
1 004
3 193
2 013

19 255
4 807
2 337
1 748
1 432
853
1 035
1 010
3 257
2 068

Germany

22.4

26.6

28.2

30.4

33.4

35.6

37.8

Thuringian States =Sachsen-Weimar, Sachsen-Meiningen,
Sachsen-Altenburg, Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt,
Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, Reuss-Gera och Reuss-Greiz.Schleswig-Holstein = The population was 889 in 1845 . The figures
for 1852
and 1861 refers to 1855 and 1860 respectively.Other States A = States that were conquered by Prussia in 1866,
i.e. Hanover, Hessen-Kassel, Nassau, Hessen-Homburg and Frankfurt.Other States B = Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Strelitz,
Oldenburg, Brunswick, Anhalt, Waldeck, Schaumburg-Lippe, Lippe, Bremen,
Hamburg, and Lübeck.Germany = The population figures refers to Germany within
the borders of 1871 but excluding
Schleswig-Holstein and Alsace-Lorraine.

Mecklenburg was until 1934 divided in
Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
Thuringia was until 1920 divided in the states Sachsen-Weimar, Sachsen-Meiningen,
Sachsen-Altenburg, Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt,
Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, Reuss-Gera and Reuss-Greiz.Other States = Anhalt, Waldeck, Schaumburg-Lippe, Lippe,
and with the exception of 1939 Lübeck.